The UAE climbed three spots from its 4th global ranking in last year’s report to accomplish this feat, outperforming other leading global economies studied by the report

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) has ranked the UAE first globally in its Global Entrepreneurship Index 2022, which was unveiled this week. The UAE climbed three spots from its 4th global ranking in last year’s report to accomplish this feat, outperforming other leading global economies studied by the report.

The UAE achieved the highest score in the general ranking of the index with a score of 6.8. The UAE also emerged as the number one global destination for establishing and starting businesses, boasting the most encouraging environment for entrepreneurship, in a survey carried out by the report.

Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said this prestigious achievement can be attributed to the unconditional support and the forward-looking vision of the UAE’s wise leadership.

“The UAE is entering the next 50 with the accomplishment of this achievement, by being at the forefront of global economies through the development of an exemplary entrepreneurship system and a highly enabling environment for companies. Today, the country serves as an ideal incubator for entrepreneurs and attracts leading projects, especially those operating in new economic sectors, innovation and emerging technologies,” Al Marri said.

“We are proud of this feat, which is a result of our wise leadership’s long-term vision that has put the entrepreneurship sector at the forefront of the development priorities and economic vision of the UAE. The global leadership that the country has achieved today confirms the soundness of this approach, the strength of government economic policies, and the efficiency of the private sector, especially the success rates enjoyed by the entrepreneurship sector and SMEs in the UAE,” he added.

He said that this achievement is a result of the joint and continuous efforts exerted by the Ministry of Economy along with its partners from all federal and local authorities, other global partners, funds and local programs concerned with SMEs in the country and academic bodies.

Bin Touq added that the country’s number one ranking is a clear message to investors, business owners and companies inside and outside the country that the UAE has a strong economic environment and flexible and proactive policies that ensure all the facilities and incentives necessary to attract and establish businesses and support their operations. It highlights the SMEs model where companies operating in the UAE can take advantage of the promising opportunities and the advantages provided by its business environment to grow and become large and profitable ventures and achieve success in regional and global markets.

Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, explained that the UAE’s number one ranking globally in entrepreneurship, which recognises its highly encouraging environment for entrepreneurship, is a new achievement to be added to the UAE’s track record. He pointed out that this achievement would not have been possible without the continuous support of the UAE’s wise leadership, especially in developing the entrepreneurship sector as one of the drivers of the future diversified, knowledge-based economy.

He said the achievement confirms the efficiency of the experience that the UAE has gained over the past years in developing an integrated and world-class entrepreneurship system, accelerating the growth of SMEs.

“This also encompasses the launch of initiatives and programs that make the activities of SMEs a major contributor to increasing the UAE’s non-oil GDP and promoting the transition towards technology, innovation and a knowledge economy at a faster pace, in line with the Principles of the 50 and the UAE Centennial 2071,” he added.

He noted that this result will benefit all sectors and economic activities, entrepreneurs and investors across the country and will further enhance confidence in the UAE markets as the most preferred destination for doing business and establishing ventures.

Al Falasi also elaborated on the most prominent achievements made by the UAE’s entrepreneurship model in the last and this year. This includes its number one ranking regionally in attracting startups funding by attracting more than USD 1 billion in venture capital for the first time in its history. Furthermore, the ‘Projects of the 50’ were launched to develop incentives for national entrepreneurship, and to facilitate the largest of their kind partnerships between the public and private sectors. The launch of the ‘Entrepreneurial Nation’ is the latest initiative to develop entrepreneurial practices and projects into new levels and lead to the creation of 20 unicorns out of the country’s markets over the next 10 years.

He added: “Today, the UAE has succeeded in consolidating its position as the first home for entrepreneurship in the world, and the most preferred destination for talent and those with entrepreneurial ideas that are commercially viable. The country provides entrepreneurs and the owners of new projects with all the possibilities to be among the best and most successful globally. We will continue our efforts in cooperation between the government and the private sector to ensure continued growth and momentum in entrepreneurial activities in the country during the next stage.”

According to the report, the UAE has achieved an improvement on 11 out of the 13 axes covered by the index. The UAE was the only country in the world participating in the report that achieved sufficient score or more on all axes such as Entrepreneurial Finance; Ease of Access to Entrepreneurial Finance; Government Policy: Support & Relevance; Government Policy: Taxes and Bureaucracy; Government Entrepreneurial Programs; Entrepreneurial Education at School; Entrepreneurial Education Post-School; Research and Development Transfers; Commercial and Professional Infrastructure; Ease of Entry: Market Dynamics; Ease of Entry: Burdens and Regulation; Physical Infrastructure; Social and Cultural Norms.

The report focuses on the outstanding results achieved by the UAE in a number of indicators that are taken into account within the methodology and questionnaires that were relied on to evaluate each country’s performance. The country achieved high rates in indicators such as the availability of good opportunities to start a business; the availability of skills, knowledge and experience to start a business; confidence in the ability to meet the challenges posed by Covid-19; plans to use digital technology to develop business; and the ability of entrepreneurship projects in the country to generate new job opportunities in the coming years.

The Global Entrepreneurship Index is one of the indicators of the UAE Vision 2021 National Agenda, under the axis of ‘Competitive Knowledge Economy, which is supervised by the Ministry of Economy with the participation of a national team and many entities concerned with entrepreneurship in the country, including the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor is the number one global reference in entrepreneurship for countries and international organizations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and United Nations organizations. The GEM’s annual report is the largest study on entrepreneurship and its activities in the world. The report includes a summary of the research conducted by GEM on global economies to measure the extent of their leadership. The report’s methodology focuses on achieving three goals: measuring the differences in entrepreneurial activity across the world’s economies, understanding the ecosystem of entrepreneurship and identifying the factors affecting it, and proposing policies to drive its growth.